Woodstock, in

Todd County, Kentucky Todd County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2010 census, the population was 12,460. Its county seat is Elkton. The county is named for Colonel John Todd, who was killed at the Battle of Blue Licks in 1782 during t ...

near

Trenton, Kentucky Trenton is a city in Todd County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 384 at the 2010 census. History Settled as Lewisburg in 1796, and incorporated in 1840. The city was renamed after Trenton, New Jersey in 1819. Geography Trenton is ...

was the center of a farm which extended across the state line into

Montgomery County, Tennessee Montgomery County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 220,069. The county seat (and only incorporated municipality) is Clarksville. The county was created in 1796. Montgomery Count ...

. Its main house was built in 1896. That and a second

contributing building In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

, a

smokehouse A smokehouse (North American) or smokery (British) is a building where meat or fish is cured with smoke Smoke is a suspension of airborne particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with t ...

, on of land all in Todd County, was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2010. The house was deemed significant for associations with three women: it was a home of the famous author

Dorothy Dix Elizabeth Meriwether Gilmer (November 18, 1861 – December 16, 1951), widely known by the pen name Dorothy Dix, was an American journalist and columnist. As the forerunner of today's popular advice columnists, Dix was America's highest paid ...

(actually

Elizabeth Meriwether Gilmer Elizabeth Meriwether Gilmer (November 18, 1861 – December 16, 1951), widely known by the pen name Dorothy Dix, was an American journalist and columnist. As the forerunner of today's popular advice columnists, Dix was America's highest paid ...

(1861-1951)) and is also associated with "two other interesting and important female members of the Meriwether family, Caroline Ferguson Gordon (1895-1981), and Caroline Meriwether Goodlett (1833-1914), who also gained national reputations in their respective fields." Dorothy Dix wrote of it:

How can one describe the place in which one was born any more than one could paint for a stranger the portrait of one’s own mother? So much of childish impressions, when home was grander than any storied castle, goes into the picture, so much of love and loyalty, so many tender recollections, that it all becomes blurred in a golden haze of memory in which it is impossible to distinguish between reality and fancy. / So is Woodstock to me. The old home. The house that my grandfather built. In which my father was born and in which his gay and debonair young manhood was spent, and where my own baby feet, with those of many other little grandchildren, pattered across the floor. But before I try to tell you of it I must first sketch in a bit of background....

"Woodstock" was the name used for the farm from 1821 on. It stayed in the Meriwether family until 1918. The main house has of floor area. With photos. It is located about southwest of Trenton, and is just a few hundred yards north of the state line of

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

History

In 1809, Dr. Charles Meriwether of

Albemarle County, Virginia Albemarle County is a county located in the Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its county seat is Charlottesville, which is an independent city and enclave entirely surrounded by the county. Albemarle County is part of the Char ...

bought 13,000 acres of farmland in Montgomery County, Tennessee and Todd County, Kentucky at a price of $1 per acre. The doctor bequeathed a portion of the land to each of his three sons. His son Charles Nicholas Minor Meriwether inherited a portion of his father's land and built a mansion house on the land in 1830, which became Woodstock.

References

National Register of Historic Places in Todd County, Kentucky Houses completed in 1896 Federal architecture in Kentucky Houses in Todd County, Kentucky Farms on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky 1896 establishments in Kentucky History of women in Kentucky {{ToddCountyKY-NRHP-stub